Runner goes the extra mile to raise over £1000 for sick children's charity

A competitive fundraiser went the extra mile to raise as much money as possible for a charity that supports the families of sick children when they need it the most.

Nigel Dale, 51 from Ealing, raised £1250 for The Sick Children's Trust by not only tackling 13.1miles in the Royal Parks Half Marathon, but by shaving his beloved locks off. Nigel, a current Ealing Eagle who completed London's most scenic half marathon in 1hr 57mins, says:

“The original target was to raise at least £350, but slowly I kept increasing it as I really wanted to do my best to raise awareness of The Sick Children's Trust and help them to continue supporting all the families they do across the country. Last year, the charity made a difference to around 3600 families, and I thought if I can help the charity continue to help this many families who are going through such awful experiences, I would put 110% into it.

“I knew though, if I wanted to reach over £1000 I would need to do something a little more. First, I decided to take on two half marathons in two weeks – but that wasn't enough. When I joked about shaving all my hair off I suddenly got floods of donations in - that was the lightbulb moment."

Nigel, along with 35 others, ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon in support of The Sick Children's Trust which provides free 'Home from Home' accommodation to families with seriously ill children undergoing treatment at specialist children's hospitals. Joy Darling, Head of House Operations South, says:

“Nigel really did go above and beyond in his fundraising efforts and what a terrific amount he raised. This will make a huge difference to lots of families across the UK and help us with running our 10 'Homes from Home'. On average, it costs £28 per night to provide one family with a room so that they can be close to their child while they are in hospital, and to make our work possible, we need the continual support of people like Nigel. Thank you Nigel for being such a super supporter."

Over £24,000 was raised from the participants who ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon for The Sick Children's Trust. If you would like to take on a challenge for the charity too, please visit: http://www.sickchildrenstrust.org/Get_involved/Active_Fundraising/index.html

If you would like to support Nigel, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/Nigel-Dale